Valeriya
by amyownfie
Summary: Valeriya, soon to become Isabella, is a former red room operative who is captured by the avengers in their search for bucky and tries to put right everything that she has done wrong and help eliminate the rest of Hydra and investigate the rumors of a new shield.
1. Chapter 1

Valeriya 'Lera' Anastasia Sviokla, beautiful, brunette and the Red Room's biggest asset since Nataliya Romanova betrayed them and ran to their enemies for shelter. At least that was what Lera was told when she took her last assignment from the Winter Soldier, her mentor in the Red Room.

Lera had joined the Red Room when she was twelve years old to avenge her father's murder but she never got her revenge as he was already dead and so she stayed with the red room. It was the easy way out for her, becoming a weapon, forgetting her humanity. That was five years ago now and she had become the Red Room's best fighter. And so it was easier for her to kill her next target Nataliya Romanova.

She had been following Nataliya for three days, tracking her across Europe until she finally spotted her entering Moscow, apparently following her own target. She had finally pushed Natasha into a corner, at an ornate fundraiser where she was posing as a wealthy oil baron's wife, a poor cover in Lera's opinion. But that was where she was, she assuming her usual cover of a ballerina with the Russian Ballet, a lot more forgettable than her target's. Lera danced with her 'boyfriend' the Winter Soldier, her mentor and backup if she didn't carry out her mission, while watching Nataliya as she moved across the room.

"Shit!" Lera cursed, Nataliya had looked right at her and winked. She had winked! If the Winter Soldier found out then she would be killed on the spot. Luckily Nataliya moved to the balcony doors pushing them open and glancing back at Lera, daring her to follow. Lera immediately moved after her, placing a hand on the weapon concealed behind the long slit in her dress. Once she had closed the balcony doors, Lera pulled out her gun pointing it at Nataliya. The people on the balcony scattered into a circle around Nataliya and Lera, watching in awe at the scene.

"Your time is up Nataliya. You have betrayed your country a million times over and you must die from that. If not by my hand then by the hand of the man who made you what you are today." Lera shouted, cocking her gun. She pulled the trigger only to see that Nataliya disappeared. She turned around to see her target stood with two other men, one held a bow and the other wore strange clothes and was holding his hand out menacingly, if that were even possible. "What witchcraft is this?" Lera asked, dropping her weapon.

"It's no trick." Nataliya spoke, approaching Lera with raised hands. "Actually it is but I don't want to hurt you, I'm here to help you. You've been stuck in the Red Room all of your life. I'm here to offer you a chance to get out and help us bring our mentor back to his family. He has one person left in this world and I'm here to make sure he gets back to that, and to make sure that neither of you get hurt."

"Why would I betray my people like that?" Lera asked cockily. "How many of our people are watching you betray them?" She looked around at the people still watching the scene.

"None." Nataliya replied, all of the bystanders raising a gun at Lera. "If you won't come with us voluntarily I will bring you in by force."

"I am not going anywhere with a traitor." Lera spat, taking a step closer to Nataliya. "You'll have to kill…" Before Lera could finish her sentence she heard several blasts and her vision went black, her body crumpling to the ground.

When Lera next woke up she was on a hospital bed, unrestrained, Nataliya sat next to her, stroking her head. "Where am I?" She spoke, unsure of what had happened over the last few years. "What happened?"

"We had to shoot you." Nataliya replied, quickly continuing when she saw the sharpness in Lera's eyes. "We shot you with a sedative so that we could bring you in. What do you last remember?"

Lera thought back, her mind only coming back to a red room lined with mirrors and wooden bars. "A ballet studio. A red ballet studio." When the words left her mouth she remembered everything. The things she had done, the people she had killed, everything. She remembered the night in the Moscow ball room, the balcony and the red headed woman she was supposed to kill. "I remember it all, everything I've done, the night I was supposed to kill you. My mentor will be furious, I'll be next on his list."

"Don't worry about him, he's in the next room talking with the friend I told you about." Nataliya explained, smiling at the girl in front of her. "When you became a Black Widow, they used a drug on you during the procedure to make you do whatever they wanted. You've done a lot of things but not intentionally. I however did everything by choice, so I think I know what you're feeling right now."

"Do you?" Lera asked, laughing slightly. "I haven't just killed people, a few missions ago I was sent to infiltrate a ring of sex dealers, and I wasn't filing paperwork. I killed innocent women there, and some less than innocent men, I've killed hundreds of innocent people a hundred different times, all to prove that I was the right person to kill you. Killing you would have been an honor, they might have let me stop killing if I'd succeeded."

"I promise you they wouldn't have let you go." Nataliya's gaze became distant and stern, like she had been in Lera's position before, more than once.

"I want to speak to him. My mentor." Lera demanded, rising from the bed and moving to the door. When she opened it two men aimed their weapons at her, stopping her in her tracks.

"She wants to see Bucky, let her through." Nataliya spoke to the men, they immediately lowered their aim and let her pass, indicating to her which door to walk through. Lera stood outside of the door for a few seconds before pushing it open.

…

Bucky watched as Lera followed her target, watching with a hard stare preparing for the inevitability that she would be killed. It wasn't long before he knew something was wrong because he heard a faint gunshot and nobody was running away. He looked around everybody as quickly as he could, noting that everybody had the same wary expression on their face as he did. Lera had walked into a trap yes, but she was only in the frying pan, he was in the fire. After three more gun shots each person in the large ballroom turned to face him, weapons raised. A tall blond man moved from the back of the room toward him. Bucky prepared for a fight, until he saw the man's face. He was there the day he started remembering, he was the man that had undone him. Bucky had gone to Russia almost immediately after that day to resume training people in the Red Room and to get away from the painful images this man had brought back to him.

"Bucky." The man spoke, raising his hands. "You know me, and I know you. I've been looking for you for a long time, since we fought in Washington. Do you remember that, or have they taken that from you?"

"I remember." Bucky spoke through gritted teeth. "Do you know how much pain I've been in since then? I don't remember anything about you but I have been guilty for attacking you, for killing everyone I have killed and I don't know why." Bucky started to cry. "I don't know why."

"Get back to the base and report to your senior officers. I can handle this on my own." The blonde man ordered; the room filling with an echo of 'yes sir's. Once everyone had left, he continued. "I can help you remember, if you want me to. I have a friend who can undo everything that Hydra did to you."

"Who are Hydra?" Bucky asked, a small piece of him knowing that it was not a good thing.

"Honestly, I couldn't explain it to you quick enough." The blonde man smiled, running a hand through his hair. "Please, come with me."

After a few seconds of deliberation Bucky answered "Okay."

"I'm very glad to hear that." The blonde man smiled. "Your student hasn't been hurt, she'd just unconscious."

"They use mind control." Bucky suddenly blurted, remembering how they avoid cases like one Nataliya Romanova. "She doesn't know what she's doing half the time. Well she does, she just doesn't question it because they make sure that she won't."

"That's good to know." The blonde man smiled, motioning for them to leave. "Shall we?" He asked, waiting for Bucky.

"What's your name?" Bucky asked as they walked along.

"Steve." The blond man smiled, opening the door for him.

…

Lera stopped when she saw the face of her mentor, her breath speeding up. "Nataliya said that you were here." She blurted out, both the winter soldier and a blonde man are looking at her, the former in pain and the latter in confusion. "I'm sorry sir, I just don't know what to do."

"It's fine." The winter soldier smiled, catching Lera off guard. "And I'm sorry for everything that I helped the red room do to you, and make you do." He motioned for her to walk forward and she did so, almost robotically. "You don't need to call me sir anymore, I actually remember who I am and it isn't the assassin you know. My name is James, but most people call me Bucky. And this is Steve, my best friend. My only friend actually."

"Sir… James." Lera spoke timidly. "I don't want to be the person I was with the red room. Valeriya Sviokla wasn't a good person."

Nataliya walked into the room and stood next to Lera. "I felt the same way once I left, I haven't been called Nataliya Romanova for a long time. I changed my name, became a different person. Here I'm Natasha Romanoff. It's pretty similar to my old name but I need that reminder sometimes. You can be anyone you want and go anywhere you want. It's up to you." She smiled at Lera who was looking up at her in awe.

"I don't want to be like the person I was, not in any way. I just don't know who I want to be. Not yet." Lera explained, looking between the three people looking intently at her.

"You don't have to decide right away." Steve smiled at Lera, cocking his head to the side slightly. "You can say here until you decide."

"Where is here?" Lera asked again, having not received an answer from Natasha.

"This is Avenger's tower." Natasha explained, leading Lera to a window. "We used to work for SHIELD but after Hydra emerged it was destroyed so a friend of mine, a very powerful friend, uses this place to do the same thing. We don't have that many people working for us; most of the people at the ball were various CIA and FBI agents who had volunteered along with some Russian Intelligence operatives. But here we can help people and make sure that no innocent people get hurt by Hydra. Like you for example, Hydra was in control of the red room and we have been helping people leave or been cleaning up the aftermath of someone really not coming quietly. You're one of the first people to have been successfully retrieved."

"What happened to the others?" Lera asked, knowing that she was going to regret hearing the answer.

"They killed themselves, along with a lot of other people usually." Natasha whispered, obviously not wanting to remember.

"Agent Romanoff, there is a visitor for you who has asked to remain anonymous." A voice spoke from above them. Bucky and Lera both looked around confused but Steve didn't even blink.

"Thank you JARVIS, I'll be in the main lounge." Natasha replied to the voice. "I've got to go but Steve will be able to explain anything else to you and you obviously know Bucky." With that she left the room.

Lera moved away from the window to sit on the bed opposite Bucky and Steve. "Why does everyone call you Bucky?"

Bucky and Steve both smiled to each other before Steve answered "His full name is James Buchannan Barnes. We used to call him Bucky to make fun of his name but the name stuck."

"I think I'll just call you James." Lera responded, struggling to think of something else to say.

"Natasha wasn't kidding about Russian humour." Steve commented, earning strange looks from both Lera and Bucky.

"I'm not completely Russian, my mother was Russian but she died when I was born. My father was American, he taught me how to speak English and Russian, my grandmother taught me Spanish just to confuse things for me. I kept getting them mixed up in school." Lera blurted, having forgotten how to stop talking. "I learnt Japanese, Italian and French once I joined the red room."

"Really?" Steve asked interested, while Bucky knew exactly how the red room worked. You would practice until you could speak flawlessly or you would be beaten by the older students.

"In a way. They taught me a lot of other things. History, World Politics, anything that would be useful on a mission." Lera explained. "They also taught me ballet; that would be your cover. You were invited to train at a prestigious, private, ballet school; at least that was what they wanted people to think."

"They do a lot of things." Bucky commented, remembering the pain he had inflicted on Lera for various punishments. "I think I have a name for you." He piped up, changing the subject. "Isabella Ringer. We could call you Bella. It sounds similar to ballerina."

"I like Isabella." Lera commented. "But I think I'll call myself Isabella Katerina Barnes. It sounds better than your suggestion."

"I think that sounds great." Bucky smiled. "But why Katerina, I thought you didn't want it to sound Russian?"

"It was my mom's name." She smiled.

"I think it's perfect." Steve smiled. "Welcome to Avengers tower Bella."


	2. Chapter 2

AN- I am super pumped about how this turned out and I am really excited to write some more about Brucetasha (Bruce and Natasha) and the Super Husbands aka Stony.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though I think I changed my mind about a couple of things half way through.

Enjoy

CHAPTER 2

Natasha ran to the Lounge, slightly hesitant of who would be waiting for her. She pushed the door open to see Bruce stood in ripped and tattered clothing. But Nat didn't care and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, he too pulled her tightly to him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, crying slightly. "I should have listened to you; I should have come back to you." They stood there for a few minutes, just holding each other as tightly as they could. "I should also shower." He commented, pulling away from her.

"Yes you should." She smiled, all of the anger and pain she felt after he left fading away. "I'm glad you're back." She called after him, smiling to herself

…

It had been a week since Bella had woken up at Avengers tower and she was itching to get back out, to be like Natalia. She had already become a new person, now she wanted to fix what she had done wrong. They just had to let her leave.

"How are you coping?" Bucky asked her, her silence worrying him more than her talkativeness once the mind control was removed. He knew that she would feel like he did, maybe not to the same extent but she would be beating herself up about it.

"I'm okay actually." Bella shrugged, turning to look at him. "The people you fought against made you do some bad things but I chose to join them. I chose to live with that, and so that's what I have to do." She left Bucky stood in the lounge and moved to the bar, grabbing an expensive looking bottle of scotch and two glasses.

"You're not old enough to drink you know." Bucky commented, turning to see her pouring a generous glass of the amber liquid.

"I'm Russian, its fine." She drank her glass' contents in a large gulp, placing it down on the bar. "Besides you're not my dad."

"I'm old enough to be." Bucky laughed, placing his empty glass next to hers. "What are you going to do when they let you out?" He asked, almost as if they were in a prison.

"I'll probably stay with Natasha if she lets me. I don't have anywhere else to go and I haven't exactly been to school recently." Bella shrugged, she hadn't given it a lot of thought. Sure she wanted to get out but that was to go to the grocery store, or just try to do something normal.

"I'll probably stick with Steve, there's not much else that I can imagine doing. We've relied on each other for so long I'm not sure I could do anything else." Bucky admitted, leaning against the bar. He too hadn't been thinking about what he was going to do, he just hoped Steve would be with him.

Bella poured herself another drink, staring out across the New York landscape. "Actually I might go out there, help people, the little people who don't always have someone to save them." She could almost hear the buzz coming from the buildings and streets, the whining of cars and trains. The city that never slept was alive to her, and to her it wasn't a metaphor. It was alive and there were people dying in it every day. They were the people that she wanted to help, the people she needed to help. "I need to go to Stark." She announced, leaving her glass in Bucky's hand. He looked at the lipstick stain on the glass, a wealth of pride and fear building up inside of him.

…

"JARVIS, could you direct me to Mr Stark's room? I have something urgent to speak with him about." She asked as she moved toward the large elevator.

"He is in his office, Miss Barnes." JARVIS replied politely. "I'll lead you to his room, please step into the elevator." The elevator doors slid open and Bella stepped inside, letting JARVIS take control of the system. Once the doors opened again JARVIS gave her the last of the directions. "He is in the room at the end, the doors are glass so you shouldn't miss them." He finished, leaving Bella to walk through the flashy interior that was the penthouse.

She reached the door to the office to see Stark manipulating the host of holograms that surrounded him. With a light knock, she pushed the door open and waited for Stark's reaction.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Stark smiled, having not seen Bella since he showed her how to work most of the systems in the tower. "I'm sure you're not here for a friendly chat." He took a seat at a large white desk and shut down the holographic display.

Bella stepped a little further into the room before explaining her spontaneous visit. "I would like you to help me help the people outside of that window." She didn't say much else as Tony's expression changed to one of curiosity.

"Everyone in this building is helping those people." Stark explained, standing to move to the other side of the desk and lean against it. "Everyone here wants the same thing, to make the world a better place. What do you want to do?"

"Mr Stark the world may be better but the people aren't." Bella moved to the large glass window as she spoke, turning back to look at Tony. "What I see are people like you, businessmen, men of wealth, pushing everyone else back down so that they can hold the power." She placed a hand on the window, staring out into the city, a tiny portion of their pain reflecting in her face. "I want to help them, the people out of luck and out of time. You can beat as many villains as you want but that won't change much for most of the people out there."

Tony analyzed the girl in front of him, wondering what it was that she saw from a window. She hadn't stepped outside, he hadn't secured a green card for her yet, so there had to be something more, something that she wasn't telling him. "JARVIS, please conduct a cognitive assessment of Miss Barnes." He asked quietly, making sure that she couldn't hear him. "And deliver the report to my tablet when you're done."

Bella wiped a tear from her cheek and turned back to Tony. "Will you help me?"

"Sure." Tony shrugged motioning for her to follow him from the room. "Let's head down to the lab and get to work." They reached the lab just as JARVIS sent his analysis to Tony. "JARVIS is just going to take an analysis of your physiology so that we have a baseline to go off of when you're in the field."

"Okay." Bella shrugged. She had already done things like this with the Red Room. "I'm sorry if I sounded rude earlier."

"Its fine, I'm always rude to people." Tony shrugged while reading JARVIS' earlier analysis. Her brain was operating at 20% instead of the usual 10%. It was slightly worrying as she should be dead; the body isn't built to handle that sort of activity. "Okay, I'll get working on a suit as soon as you tell me your preferences. Colours, material, style, that sort of stuff."

"Practicality, nothing flashy and nothing I can't move in." Bella left it at that, not caring what she looked like. "I just need a vehicle and a storage locker, maybe somewhere to train. Other than that nothing else matters." Tony noted Bella's disinterest but continued to sketch out a costume for her, because she would undoubtedly join the avengers when she got lonely.

"Are you aware that you have inhuman abilities?" Tony asked, catching Bella off guard. "Your scan shows that that your brain is operating at an unusually high capacity. I don't know if it will increase or decrease but you definitely are not a normal person. What can you do?" He asked, turning his focus to her.

"I don't know." She shrugged, biting her fingernail. "I didn't realize I could do anything. But that might explain the voices. Well, not voices, but I can feel what everyone feels, hear their pain. I don't know; I just know that there are a lot of people hurting down there." She spoke, glancing at the window. "You can experiment on me later."

At that moment Loki walked into the lab, barely acknowledging Bella's presence. "Tony, I believe there is another Asgardian here. Or at least someone akin to an Asgardian. Could you please conduct a scan of the building, Thor and I would like to know who this person is."

"I don't need to." Tony simply pointed at Bella, shrugging.

Loki turned, a glint of recognition in his eye as he did so. "You look just like Fulla." He commented, looking more closely. "Give me your hand, I won't harm you." He took her hand, sensing if she was Asgardian.

"Who's Fulla?" Bella asked, confused by his sudden interest in her.

"One of my mother's handmaidens. My mother told Fulla all of her secrets, but she went missing years ago. We believed that she was killed during an assassination attempt against Odin, the all-father." Loki explained, his eyes sharp and analytic. He suddenly dropped her hand, taking a step back. "She'd half Asgardian, most likely on her mother's side judging by her appearance. Would you summon Thor?" 

"Of course Mr Loufeyson." JARVIS chimed, taking Bella by surprise. "He is almost here."

A few moments later Thor burst through the door, slowing his pace when he saw Bella. "Fulla, we thought you were dead." He smiled, moving to stand next to his brother.

"She'd only half Asgardian, possibly Fulla's daughter." Loki commented, making his brother frown slightly.

"My mother was a Russian ballet teacher. And her name was Katya not Fulla." Bella explained, shrinking back on her stool.

"We will find out soon enough." Thor eased, turning to Tony. "I'm going to contact Heimdall, he may know something that we don't." With that, Thor left the room dramatically, leaving a stony silence in his wake.

…

"The first thing I want you to do is try to move something, but only with your mind." Loki instructed, standing with Bella in the lounge.

Bella turned to look at the bar, deciding what drink she wanted. She spotted the scotch she and Bucky had been drinking earlier and proceeded to move it from the shelf and onto the bar. She removed the lid and poured the liquid into the two discarded glasses that still remained unmoved. She gave one to Loki and to herself, taking a long drink.

"Strange use of your gift." Loki commented, taking a drink from his glass. "Now try moving two things at once. Something that doesn't involve your weak alcohol."

With that Bella lifted Loki into the air, along with a chair. She sat him in the chair and lowered it to the ground, allowing it to touch down with a soft landing.

…

Bucky watched as Bella laughed with Loki, obviously she didn't feel the same connection with her that he did. He continued to stare down at her. Admiring her smile and effortless laughter, something she could never be comfortable around him doing. He was the Red Room's insurance policy, if you can't complete the mission the Winter Soldier will kill your target, and then you. He pushed away from the balcony, heading to have a drink with Steve.

…

Bella turned, looking up at the balcony, unsure if she heard someone. She saw the back of Bucky's head as he walked away from them. She felt a little guilty, knowing that he probably regretted some of the things they had done together, the lives they had ended.

"I've got to go." Bella interrupted Loki in the middle of explaining her next task, walking absentmindedly from the room. "JARVIS, ask Bucky to meet me in my living room." She made the bottle of scotch and the two glasses follow along behind her as she made her way down the stairs. When she reached her floor she placed the three items on the table and waited for Bucky to arrive.

"Miss Barnes." JARVIS broke the silence, stopping Bella in her pacing. "Mr Barnes has declined his invitation to join you. Would you like me to ask again?" The AI offered, somehow sympathetic to her situation.

"No, I'll go myself. There's something I need to tell him." Bella decided, drinking the two glasses of scotch. "Which room is he in?"

"He is with Captain Rodgers." JARVIS replied courteously. "Upon analysis I have concluded that you cannot get drunk, regardless of the amount of alcohol you consume. I hope this doesn't inconvenience you."

"Damn, I was hoping for the buzz to help me with this." Bella shrugged. "Thanks JARVIS." She smiled before heading up to the Captain's floor. "Just ask the Captain if I can come up, without Bucky hearing. I think he might be able to convince him to see me."

"Of course." JARVIS went silent as Bella stood in the elevator. After a few seconds JARVIS spoke again. "He has invited you up, although he refuses to tell Mr Barnes about your impending arrival. He believes that you will stand a higher chance of being able to talk to him.

…

Bucky stepped from the elevator onto Steve's floor. "Steve." He called with little enthusiasm, taking a seat on one of the red leather couches. Steve was remaining true to his stereotype, everything was coloured red white or blue.

After the murmur of hushed voices Steve emerged from his bedroom, pulling a shirt over his head. He was smiling, until he saw the look on his friend's face. "Buck, what's wrong?"

"I think I may have fallen for the wrong person." He mumbled. Before he could continue Tony too emerged from Steve's room, buttoning up his shirt. "But I think I want to know what's going on with you to before I get into it." Bucky noted the bruise forming on Tony's neck.

"He and Pepper broke up a while ago because he was talking about me in his sleep." Steve explained, although he had to continue when he saw Bucky's eyes grow wider. "We're not really a thing, although it's not that weird nowadays, you should know that better than anyone you've seen the world change." Steve babbled, buying time for Tony to leave the room.

"That's not what shocked me." Bucky spoke, the shock staying firmly painted through his expression. "It's the fact that he's the son of one of our best friends. You're old enough to be his father. Although I'm old enough to be her grandfather so I guess you and Tony is a lot better."

"Oh okay." Steve sighed with relief. "But, go back. Old enough to who's grandfather?" He asked, placing a hand on Bucky's shoulder.

"Bella's." He managed to squeak after several minutes of silence. "But she was smiling and laughing with Loki and we only communicate in small talk. I haven't even seen her smile yet, not because if something I've said or done at least." Bucky shook his head, standing up and pacing around the room.

"Mr Barnes. Miss Barnes has invited you to her room." JARVIS interrupted. Hearing her name, Barnes, warmed Bucky's mood but it ultimately made him feel worse. She must only see him as a brother or a father, not the way he saw her.

The cinnamon tresses that fell effortlessly past her shoulders and down her back, the deep blue, almost purple, pools that showed so much emotion for someone who had lived so long detached from feeling. She was the most beautiful person he'd seen, and he'd lived long enough to see thousands of women. But that wasn't the only thing that made her beautiful to him. It was the way that she rejected everything she had been taught, she wouldn't hate and she wouldn't hurt, not anymore. She only wanted to be happy and she felt that she could only do that by making other people happy. And while that may be a flaw in anyone else's character, to him that was her most admirable strength.

But no matter how he saw her, she could only see him as the man with the metal arm, the man in the mask, the man that would be sent to kill her at any moment. "Please tell her that I won't be going."

"What do you mean you're not going? You have to go." Steve argued from his spot on the sofa. "You obviously like her, so why not go?"

"Because I was the man that she lived in fear of for the last five years. She can't love me. Not after that." Bucky sat back down. "Do you have anything strong?"

"You know we can't get drunk." Steve commented, moving to get a large bottle of Scottish whiskey from a shelf on the other side of the room and two glasses. "It still helps though, that you can't deny." The two sat in silence, drinking their way through the bottle. Steve suddenly stood and moved to the other side of the room, talking to himself. That or the ear piece that he never seemed to take off.

Once he was done talking he left Bucky sat with a drink in his hand. In a few seconds Bella walked through the elevator doors, not even slowing until she was stood a foot in front of Bucky. "I wish I could get drunk right now." She whispered, standing decisively in front of him.

"Why?" He asked flatly, placing his drink on the floor next to his feet.

"So that I can blame it for this." She placed a hand on Bucky's face turning it so that she could kiss him. Before she could pull away Bucky pulled her closer to him, sitting her on his lap. He placed his thumb and index finger on her jaw line, his metal hand pulling on the hem of her shirt.

"Don't have sex on my couch!" Steve yelled from the other room. With a small laugh, Bella moved them to her bed in the blink of an eye.

"How did you do that?" Bucky asked before moving to trace kisses down her neck.

"Later." She simply stated before pushing Bucky onto his back.


	3. Chapter 3

AN- Warning, this is a very sexual chapter. I couldn't resist. But it is some pretty important setup for the next chapter.

Enjoy xx

CHAPTER 3

Bucky woke when the rising sun burned through his eyelids. He smiled to see Bella in his arms; the most peaceful that he had ever seen her. He traced cold circles on her stomach, savouring the enhanced sensitivity that his metal arm felt. He placed his lips on her forehead, leaving a long, light kiss. She stirred, rolling over, further into his body. "Good morning." He grinned, looking down at her now exposed body. That was when he noticed the bruises spreading from her sides and shoulders, down her arms and back, and the cuts that accompanied them. "You must be sore." He whispered, referring to the injuries that he had inflicted.

"Someone's egotistical this morning." She smiled, kissing his chest. "Feeling more like your old self?"

"I mean, you're covered in bruises." He ran his hand along them, stopping when she winced away from his hand.

"It wouldn't be the first time you've left me with bruises." She joked, moving to place his hand back where it was. "But that doesn't mean that I want it to be the last." She smiled up at him, kissing him lightly.

"Should I be happy or scared?" He joked, rolling Bella onto her back, holding himself above her with his metal arm, his other hand cupping her cheek. He lowered himself down slowly until he was kissing her again, like he had the night before.

…

Natasha ran through Avengers tower before stopping at Bruce's room. He had hulked out and it wasn't safe for anyone else to go in. She quickly pushed the door open, stopping when she saw the hulk curled up in a ball in the centre of the room. "The sun's getting real low." She spoke. The hulk turned around violently, charging at her but as soon as he saw her he started to become human again.

"Natasha." The word came from his throat in a strangled cry. And so he lay, naked in the destroyed remains of his room. "I don't know what happened this time. I was asleep and then I woke up and the big guy was in control."

"It doesn't matter." Natasha stroked his head, smiling down at him. "You don't need to be afraid of that part of yourself." Natasha placed a kiss on his forehead before moving to get him some clothes.

Once he was dressed he placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her round. Before either of them could say anything he kissed her, gently, sweetly, different to the other part of him. "I love you." He whispered, resting his forehead on hers.

"Love is overrated." She smiled before pulling him into a deeper rougher kiss.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea. I don't want to hurt you." He broke the kiss, but it didn't last long.

"You won't."

…

Steve watched as Tony worked, he usually spent his morning studying Tony in the lab. "What is this?" Steve asked, looking into Tony's eyes. "We're in a place that I never dreamed we'd be, but I don't know what this place is."

"Where we are doesn't matter." Tony frowned at Steve, partially for interrupting his train of thought and partially for being stupid. "As long as we are with each other and we feel the same way about each other, where we are won't matter. Although I do believe we're in Avengers Tower."

"You know what I mean. Who are you to me?" Steve explained, trying not to laugh at Tony's joke. "Are we friends, friends with an awkward silence afterward, boyfriends, compadres? That's what I want to know."

"I like to think we're a special evolution of super husbands but that's just what the fan girls call us." Tony shrugged. "I hadn't given it much though. I was just enjoying us being us. Letting it go where it would and waiting to see what would happen in the end."

"So not boyfriends?" Steve asked feigning melancholy.

"Now when you put it that way…" Tony moved across the room to kiss Steve. "Definitely boyfriends." Tony continued to kiss his boyfriend. Steve pushed him roughly against the workbench, kissing and biting his neck.

Naturally this was the perfect time for Pepper to walk in. "Oh… I'll just come back later."

Tony and Steve both laughed at her sudden entrance. "Is it just me or did that just make you want to do this more?" Steve laughed, kissing Tony even more ferociously.

…

By noon everyone had vacated their respective rooms and were sat in the main lounge eating the largest accumulation of pizza since Thor first discovered the meal. Loki, Bella and Bucky shared one of the two vegetarian pizzas while Thor ate at least five meat feast pizzas to himself. Pepper had stayed for pizza once Tony had profusely apologized for the lab incident and Thor asked very nicely.

"So wait, tell me again what happened?" Natasha asked Pepper, pulling out her phone to record the audio. This would become the next animation she would work on.

"Okay." Pepper agreed smiling. "Tony had arranged for a meeting about a week ago and when I arrived JARVIS directed me to the lab. Before he could warn me about going in I opened the door and Steve was all over Tony, the latter rather enjoying it."

"I wasn't all over him." Steve put his hands up, blushing slightly.

"You definitely were." Pepper laughed, continuing the story until everyone was in stitches minus the two in question. "At the time I was shocked and, I will admit, a little hurt but I can look back and laugh, especially now that I've made it sound much worse than it was."

Everyone continued to laugh, everyone bar Natasha who was eyeing up the bruises across Bella's frame. Having only tank tops and scoop neck shirts was a major lack of judgment on Bella's part. She noticed Natasha looking and shook her head slightly, almost begging her not to tell anyone.

"What's with all the bruises Black Swan?" Tony asked, remembering to incorporate the name into his and Bella's project.

She struggled for a few moments to figure out something to say but eventually she came up with a convincing enough lie, she hoped. "I levitated during the night; I woke up when I fell on the floor. Apparently that happened a lot during the night because I woke up covered in bruises."

Steve gave Bella and Bucky a knowing look, having politely asked them not to desecrate his couch. Tony picked up on the look, as did Loki and Natasha.

"A better question is why does our favourite Russian Assassin just so happen to have a hickey on his collar bone?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow. Obviously he knew nothing about handling things tactfully.

With a blink Bella had left the room, too embarrassed to endure questioning. She felt slightly bad for leaving Bucky in the line of fire. "JARVIS can you find an excuse to get Bucky out of the living room. Preferably something that has nothing to do with me."

"Of course." JARVIS acknowledged, leaving the room silent. Bella immediately went to making her bedroom not look like someone had sex but it was a hard task, despite the fact she owned next to nothing. She wished that she had more time because it wasn't Bucky that left the elevator, but Tony and Steve.

They further they walked through her apartment the more worried she got, because if they got too close to the bedroom they would be able to see and smell everything that had happened over the last twelve hours. Bucky rushed in behind them, just in time for them to discover what had happened. Steve looked slightly horrified but Tony looked like he was in the happiest place on earth. Bucky moved to Bella's side, placing an arm around her lower back, bracing her for the explosion that would later be known as Tony Stark fangirling.

"Ohmygodohmygod." Tony repeated, squealing and jumping on the spot. "This is brilliant. This is A-class fan fiction material." He ran from the room, still squealing in delight.

Steve simply looked between the two. "You need to learn how to clean up after yourselves." With that comment, Steve too left the room.

"What are we?" Bella asked, leaning her head onto Bucky's chest.

"I'd like to think we're together, but having sex twice…"

"A lot more than twice." Bella interjected.

"Okay, having sex doesn't make us that. It just means that we're two people who have sex." Bucky explained, apparently a lot more comfortable with the subject than Steve.

"Just checking." Bella smiled, somehow burying herself further into Bucky's frame. "And you were right. I've been sore all day."

…

Tony had sat in the lab for hours, finishing Bella's suit and gear. He had to make her a known figure, Bucky too but he was already in the myths and legends of tumblr, so that he could post his already written fan fiction about them. Secretly he wrote the most popular Stony fan fiction but that was because he wrote about the cute moments they'd had pre-pepper break up and some of the steamier moments after. He saved the best nights for the two of them though; he didn't want people to know everything that they got up to.

"What are you working on?" Steve asked Tony, bringing him some of the left over pizza for dinner.

"Some stuff for the black swan." Tony shrugged, continuing his design work. "She wants to help people, but on a more personal level so I'm making her a suit. It'll help when the Red Room try to track her down."

"You mean Bella?" Steve asked. Then it dawned on him "That's why you called her the black swan earlier." He moved round behind Tony, The former wrapping his arms around the latter's waist, resting his chin on Tony's shoulder to look at what he was drawing. "She'll hate it." He commented, smiling into Tony's neck.

"Probably."

…

"A cat suit?" Bella asked, raising an eyebrow. She held the thick black fabric out so that she could see the shape and she was less than pleased. "At least tell me I can wear a jacket with this." She huffed, then spotting the host of weapons on the bench.

"They are all concealable, minus a few firearms but I've notified the authorities that you are not to be arrested for carrying a weapon or anything like that. We also have a motorcycle waiting for you in the garage, completely kitted out and we have all of the paperwork ready for you." Tony shrugged, placing a brown jacket on the table that appeared to be made with the same material as the suit and a packet of papers. Tony turned around, allowing Bella to change into the clothing he gave her. Once she was dressed she strapped the gear to her thighs and back, slipping several knives into both the inside and outside of her boot.

"You don't need all of it right now." Tony commented, seeing that every weapon was in their respective places amongst her clothing.

"I'm going down to train. I need to get used to the weight distribution." With that Bella blinked and she was in the training room, the lights off and the equipment looking like it hadn't been used for several months. With a wave of her hand, everything moved into its place, the lights flickering on. "Let's get started."

…

After several hours of training Bella realized that it was 2m. She had been down there since at least eight and she was already completely comfortable with the gear. Before she could leave the room the lights flickered again and a tall figure was stood in front of the door.

"I'm here to bring you in Valeriya, don't try to run." The figure almost growled in a deep voice. "We can follow you wherever you go." The figure stepped forwards menacingly, each of the lights going out as they did so, concealing their face.

"I'm not going back there." Bella launched the man up to the ceiling. When his body collided with the lights it sparked and buzzed, frying the man's body.

…

Bella jolted awake, shaking and sweating. She was on the floor of the training room, lying in a pool of blood. She tried to sit up but couldn't move, she was in far too much pain. "JARVIS." She called, but there was no answer. She placed her hand on a large, jagged gash through her side, pushing as much energy into it as she could. She pushed enough energy into her body to short circuit her nerve endings. After a few moments the pain had dulled itself enough for her to move, Bella trudged back to the elevator where JARVIS greeted her.

"Miss Barnes, I apologise for not being able to answer you, someone had short circuited my system."

"It's okay, I just need a shower." She shrugged running a hand through her hair and seeing her arm half covered in blood.

"The data in your suit shows that you were stabbed in the abdominal region approximately five inches deep and seven inches long." JARVIS chimed in as the elevator moved up the tower. "It appears someone stabbed you before leaving the tower. Would you like for me to call Dr Banner to take a look at it?"

"Sure." Bella shrugged, feeling light headed. "How much blood have I lost?" She asked, feeling light headed.

"Twenty-four percent. We're almost at the lab, Dr Banner has prepped for surgery." JARVIS informed her, opening the elevator doors. She stumbled to the lab table, where Bruce lifted her onto the table.

"This looks pretty bad." Bruce assessed the damage and looked over JARVIS' readings. "I need to operate but we don't have enough time to sedate you." Bruce cut open the fabric around the wound, pushing an IV into her arm and attaching a blood bag.

"Don't worry. I can't feel a thing." Bella reassured Bruce, her statement being not entirely true. He began the operation and a sharp pain seared through Bella's side. She screamed, wincing against the blade and alarming Bruce. "I'll be fine." She pushed through gritted teeth, tensing her body.

Bruce did as she asked and proceeded to repair the damage. "I need at least two other people. Why did Dr Cho have to be at a conference right now?" He pressed a suction tube into Bella's hand, positioning it correctly. "I need you to hold this for me, you can't move this okay."

Bella simply nodded, squeezing her eyes shut and focusing on staying as still as possible. After another twenty minutes of operating Bruce pulled the tube out of Bella's hand, starting to sew the break in her skin and the incision that extended from the wound.

"This is going to leave on hell of a scar." Bruce warned Bella, grabbing some pain killers from a large cabinet. "Take two of these before you go to bed, and try not to move around in the night for the next few days." He helped Bella into a wheel chair and helped her to her room, and into her bed. "That was pretty amazing back there." He smiled before leaving the room.

As soon as Bruce turned Bucky sprinted in, panicking even more when he saw the blood on Bruce's clothes. "I ran half way around the city and I can't find the guy who stabbed you." Bucky knelt next to her bed, taking her hand.

Bella wasn't listening though, she was in too much pain. She just lay with her eyes tightly shut, trying to slow her breathing. She drifted from consciousness, unaware of what was happening around her.


End file.
